Chandeliers come in a variety of forms and are made of a variety of materials. For example, certain chandeliers are made almost entirely of metal whereas other chandeliers are made almost entirely of glass. Chandeliers made primarily of glass present special problems with respect to shipping, particularly if the chandelier includes delicate, arcuate shaped glass arms. An example of such a chandelier is shown in FIG. 1.
The chandelier 10 includes a number of primary components. Its principal framework is a central stem 12 formed of a central metal support rod obscured from view by a series of dishes or bowls 14 and urns 16 stacked vertically upon one another. Crystals 18 are hung from these bowls to further adorn the chandelier. In addition, the chandelier is provided with a plurality of delicate, arcuate glass arms 20, some of which terminate in a light bulb 21. These delicate glass arms 20 are attached typically to a metal plate (not visible) secured to the central metal support rod and obscured from view by being seated within one of the bowls 14. The glass arms 20 thus provide a mechanism for lighting the chandelier and also provide points of attachment for crystals 18 and chains of crystals, which points of attachment are somewhat remote from the central stem, thereby allowing for draping of crystal chains and so forth to provide desirable appearances.
FIG. 2 is a representative partial cross-section of a chandelier of the type described in FIG. 1. The central support rod 22 extends vertically through the chandelier and terminates at its upper end in a ring 24 attached to support rod upper threads 26, to permit the chandelier to be hung from a ceiling. The bottom end of the support rod 22 has support rod lower threads 26'. These lower threads 26' are adapted to receive a pair of threaded nuts 28 which sandwich and hold in place a metal plate 30. The bowls 14', 14" and urns 16 are stacked upon the metal plate 30, with the support rod 22 passing centrally therethrough. The upper most bowl 14' is fixed from detachment from the support rod 22 by a washer 32 held in place by a threaded nut 34 secured to the ring 24 and screwed onto the upper threads 26 of the support rod 22. The bowl 14" is secured to a threaded stem 36 extending from the bottom end of the support rod 22 by a bottom bowl washer 38 and threaded nut 40. The plate 30 is seated within the bowl 14" when the bowl is attached to the threaded stem 36. The plate 30 and metal bowl 31 when assembled define a cavity containing the wiring. This cavity or chamber then is received within the bowl 14" which obscures from view the threaded stem and all of the wiring (not shown) that is connected to the lighted glass arms 20'.
The lighted glass arm 20' is connected to the plate 30 in a conventional manner. Each lighted glass arm 20' is seated in a cup or sleeve 42. Extending from the bottom of the sleeve 42 and threaded through the bottom of the sleeve 42 is a threaded stem 44. (To manufacture the arm, the threaded stem is threaded into the sleeve and the arm is then seated in the sleeve and cemented thereto.) The threaded stem 44 is inserted through a radially disposed opening 46 in the plate 30, with the bottom of the sleeve 42 abutting the upwardly facing surface of the plate 30. A washer 48 and threaded nut 50 are passed over the positive wire 52, negative wire 54 and ground wire 56 extending from the threaded stem 44 and the threaded nut 50 is threaded onto the threaded stem 36, thereby securing the lighted glass arm 20' to the plate 30. The wires 52, 54, 56 then are connected to central wiring passing through the central stem to provide an electrical communication between the light socket 58 and an electrical energy source to which the chandelier is connected.
The wiring is shown in greater detail in FIG. 3. The wires 52, 54, 56 extend from the light socket through lighted glass arm 20', through the radial opening 46 and the plate 30 and out of the threaded stem 44 attached to the lighted glass arm 20'. A positive wire 52 from each of the lighted glass arms 20' (two arms shown) and a positive wire 52' from the wiring extending from the central stem 12 are electrically connected using a first wire nut 60. Likewise, a negative wire 54 from each of the lighted glass arms 20' and a negative wire 54' from the wiring of the central stem are connected to one another by a second wire nut 60. The ground wires (not shown) are secured in the same manner. While only two glass arms are shown in FIG. 3, two glass arms are not typical. Instead, chandeliers more frequently have 5, 10, 20 or even more lighted glass arms attached to a plate. Referring to FIG. 4, approximately 20 lighted glass arms (not shown) are attached to the plate 30. The wiring for 12 of these glass arms is shown. As can be seen, the wiring is complex. It is not permitted to attach more than a certain number of wires through a single wire nut 60'. Therefore the positive wires 52 from some lighted glass arms are connected to one wire nut 60' whereas the positive wires 52 from other glass arms are connected to a different wire nut 60', which in turn is connected sometimes via auxillary wire nuts to the central wiring. Only after all of the wiring has been completed can the bottom bowl 14" and metal bowl 31 be attached to the plate 30 to form a bowl/plate assembly defining a chamber which contains and obscures from view the wiring.
It should be readily understood that the foregoing process for assembling a chandelier imposes a serious burden upon the distributor or ultimate customer. As discussed above, the glass arms 20 are too delicate to preassemble onto the chandelier 10, and, therefore, must be packed and shipped separately. Because access to both sides of the plate 30 are required to mount the glass arms 20 onto the metal plate 30, the bottom bowl 14" and metal bowl 31 cannot be assembled and attached to the metal plate 30 until after assembling the glass arms onto the plate, because doing so would prevent the necessary access to the bottom side of the plate for attachment of the glass arms 20 to the plate 30. Likewise, because the glass arms 20 are packed separately, the chandelier cannot be prewired for easy assembly.
Disassembly can be as substantial a problem as assembly, should part of the wiring fail or should any one of the arms be damaged. In order to repair a glass arm, or even test the wiring in a glass arm, the bottom bowl 14" and metal bowl 31 must be disassembled from the bowl/plate assembly to expose the wires so that the wires from the damaged or failing arm can be physically detached from the other wires and also so as to provide access to the nut abutting the bottom surface of the plate and holding the glass arm to the plate.
It thus would be desirable to have a chandelier assembly that is easier to put together and take apart, but that still permits shipping of arms, and in particular glass arms, separately packaged.